The Arizona Coyotes may be without the NHL’s assist leader Martin Hanzal for a bit, after he exited Monday night’s win 4-3 over the Toronto Maple Leafs with an injury.
The team is calling it a lower body injury and coach Dave Tippet has labeled Hanzal day-to-day.
There’s no clear indication of what the injury is either from the team or from replays. It may have been an aggravation of an injury that was already present, with Dhiren Mahiban reporting that Hanzal entered the game a game-time decision to play.
Hanzal left during the first period of the game and never returned. However, before he left, he managed to get the puck to Max Domi for a goal, grabbing sole possession of the NHL’s assist lead and keeping himself tied for the team lead in points with Domi.
The line of of Domi, Hanzal, and Anthony Duclair has been a revelation for the Coyotes who are far exceeding preseason expectations with their Pacific Division leading 5-3-1 record. That trio accounts for 27 of the team’s 72 total points.
For Domi, Monday was a homecoming of sorts, playing his first game at the Air Canada Centre, where his dad, Tie Domi, played 12 seasons of NHL hockey. Max Domi was quite popular with the press before the game and had the honor of skating alone around the rink for a while when his teammates played a prank on him and didn’t join him for warm-ups.
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